Greetings all, I have just returned from a visit to my hometown of Vasai, near Mumbai, India. This thread will include all my pictures from the trip, including both vernacular and historical architectural works of Vasai and the general atmosphere of modern Vasai. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them

The first batch are of St. Michael's Church, a Portuguese-built church in Manickpur village of Vasai that celebrated its 400th birthday in 2006. This church has been kept in relatively good condition, although there has been some modification (glass and steel additions, which I'm personally not particularly fond of).

image hosted on flickr
A much newer neighbouring schoolimage hosted on flickrimage hosted on flickr

I love Colonial architecture. In fact, it was a "Colonial Architecture of Mumbai" type thread that got me started doing my photothread.
The heat looks so therapeutic as we sit here in a cold winter snap!

Nah, it's a mouthfreshener of sorts that's consumed after a meal. Over the centuries the making of paan has developed into quite an art form, and aficianados choose specific types of leaf and a myriad of garnishes for the dish

Quote:

Originally Posted by iMike

Nice pics, keep posting. How long did you stay there?

Just a tad under two weeks. Two weeks exact if you include everything from takeoff in Toronto to landing back in Toronto.

Here's a street scene from Vasai, as promised. This is in a shopping street in Panchalnagar, in Manickpur village of Vasai. It was taken on a somewhat flimsy tripod that was pretty short, but it still held up pretty well The star in focus in the second picture is typical Christmas decoration all across Mumbai.

Here's some pictures of Bassein Fort, erected by the Portuguese and captured by the Marathas in the 1730s. It stands as a very visible testament to the legacy of the importance of Portugal's Indian empire (Bassein was built to protect Portuguese trading interests). Much of it is in ruins now, but the magnitude of the fort and the still evident architectural brilliance still stands out.

Depends on what you consider 'of Portuguese descent.' After Portugal took control of part of the Konkan following the Vijayanagara-Bijapur war (they allied with Vijayanagar against Bijapur and Goa was their 'spoil of war'), rapid settlement led to an Inquisition. In this, a large number of Hindus and Muslims were converted to Catholicism by force and forced into taking a Portuguese last name (like my family). The majority of Mangalorean Catholics received their situations in this manner.
Then, through the 400-odd years of Portuguese occupation, a proportion of the population that was not Catholic or may have simply been resident converts married into a certain social class of Portuguese-descendants in Goa. These are the Indians with Portuguese descent. Those of purely Portuguese descent (the most favoured under the Portuguese apartheid-esque system prior to Goan liberation) left for Portugal after India liberated Goa from Salazarian rule in the 60s.